Resolute Forest Products puts its Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill for sale

Resolute Forest Products has announced plans to sell its Thunder Bay, Ont., pulp and paper mill.

The company said Thursday morning the move is intended to help accelerate the acquisition of Resolute by the Paper Excellence Group, through its subsidiary, Domtar.

The sale of the Thunder Bay mill is contingent on that acquisition, which is expected to close in the first half of 2023, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.

"This is a very hard thing to do, but we believe it is necessary in order to accelerate our strategic combination with the Paper Excellence Group," Remi G. Lalonde, Resolute's president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "The mill is an exceptional asset."

"I am confident that the dedicated and talented team in Thunder Bay will have a prosperous future with any company fortunate enough to have them as part of their organization."

Seth Kursman, Resolute vice-president of corporate communications, sustainability, and government affairs, told CBC News in an interview that the company will still have a presence in Thunder Bay, and northwestern Ontario.

"Resolute is going to continue to operate our woodlands, and so we'll have strong commercial ties with the mill," Kursman said. "We're still planning on operating sawmills [in] Ignace, Atikokan and Thunder Bay."

"Thunder Bay is an amazing asset," he said. "It's one of the most-competitive sawmills in Canada, but letting go of the pulp and paper mill is really, really a difficult thing."

Despite putting it up for sale, Kursman made a strong case for another company to buy the pulp and paper mill. 

"It's a facility with an outstanding workforce," he said. "It has an incredibly positive, collaborative business environment. The mill has on-site power co-generation, and it has a stable access to a fibre supply."

"We expect that it's going to draw significant interest from potential buyers."

Given the company's plans to sell were just announced on Thursday morning — a Resolute vice-president told employees in person during a visit to the plant — there's no word yet on who may be interested.

However, Kursman said potential buyers will likely be touring the mill in the coming weeks.

According to Resolute's website, the Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill employs 462 people.